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Thursday, July 13, 2017

Attorney-at-law
Kodituwakku (left) handing over a petition signed by over 100 lawyers
to Randeniya, Secretary to the BASL on Wednesday

More than 100 members of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) have
signed a petition requesting the association’s President U. R. de Silva,
PC, to summon a Special General Meeting to request Chief Justice
Priyasath Dep to appoint a full bench comprising ten Supreme Court
judges to decide on the constitutionality of appointing defeated
candidates through respective National Lists of political parties.

Special General Meeting can be summoned by BASL President or five
members of its executive committee or 100 members of the association.

Having handed over the petition, Kodituwakku told The Island that he had received an assurance that the matter would be taken up next Saturday (July 15).

He said he had sought the intervention of the BASL membership after having failed to convince office bearers to intervene.

Kodituwakku has asked for the BASL’s backing against the backdrop of
Chief Justice Dep and his predecessor K. Sripavan rejecting his pleas
made following the last parliamentary general election in Aug 2015.

In a petition filed in the Supreme Court, Kodituwakku named Deputy
Speaker Tilanga Sumathipala, Mahinda Samarasinghe, S.B. Dissanayake,
Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, Angajan Ramanathan, A. M. H. M. Lebbe, Vijith
Wijayamuni Zoysa, M. H. M. Navavi, Sunil Handunetti and Bimal Ratnayake
as those who had been defeated at the last general election but
accommodated through the National Lists of the UPFA, UNP and the JVP.

Kodituwakku in a communiqué to members of the BASL alleged that the
enactment of the Article 99A (National List provision) of the
Constitution on May 4, 1988 through the 14th Amendment by fraudulent
means had deprived the people’s sovereign right of franchise as it
enabled the appointment of defeated candidates.

Alleging that the due process hadn’t been followed in the enactment of
the controversial Article 99A, Kodituwakku asserted the Executive and
the Legislature had compelled the judiciary to act according to the
Executive’s wishes.

The BASL bid was meant to revisit the circumstances under which the
Supreme Court during Parinda Ranasinghe’s tenure as the Chief Justice
had received a request from the then President JR Jayewardene seeking
its determination of constitutionality of a different distorted 14A
submitted in place of Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC)-approved 14A
that made no reference to defeated candidates.

According to records available in Parliament, the 12-member PSC
appointed on July 6, 1983 under the then Prime Minister Ranasinghe
Premadasa’s leadership hadn’t recommended appointment of those who were
rejected by the electorate to parliament under any circumstances.

Bench of five judges namely, H D Tambiah, O S M Seneviratne, H A G De
Silva, G P S De Silva and M Jameel appointed by CJ Ranasinghe to
determine the constitutionality of the distorted 14A, decided that it
didn’t require endorsement at a referendum.

PM Premadasa had, according to parliamentary proceedings on May 4,
1988, raised the issue of two bills on 14 in circulation in House.

Premadasa pointed out that the one that had been sent to the Supreme
Court was different from what was approved in parliament that didn’t
make any reference to defeated candidates.

Kodituwakku has, in a detailed communiqué requested the BASL to take up
National List issue with the CJ as soon possible in accordance with its
own Constitution. The copies of the same letter has been forwarded to
the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR), Commonwealth Lawyers Association, Directorate-General for
Justice and Consumers, European Commission and UK’s Leader of the
Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn MP